Dukes hook Muskies to get new year off to winning start

Story by Brock Ormond

Photo:  OJHL Images/Wellington Dukes

The Wellington Dukes roll into 2025 on a winning note, beating the Lindsay Muskies 5-3 on the road on Friday night.

Ethan Murray led the way with a pair of goals and Carson Littlejohn posted his first assist/point in his first game as a Duke after a trade from Cobourgon Murray’s first marker on the powerplay in the second period.

Logan Sitlani got Wellington on the board with the lone goal of the first on a great play to hold the puck in, deke to his left and beat Jason Tremblay with a clean shot.

The defenceman’s fifth of the season came at 8:19 of the opening frame.

Murray cashed in on the man advantage about five minutes into the second, but the Wellington lead was cut back to one after a quick penalty off the ensuing faceoff led to an Ajay Rai powerplay marker.

The Dukes maintained that advantage heading into the third, when they broke it open with goals from Ryan Schaap, Sacha Trudel and Murray.

Lindsay drew closer in the late goings with two goals in the span of 30 seconds from Nathan Enwright and Nole Faulkner, but couldn’t claw fully back.

Along with Littlejohn, Remi Gendron added his first point as a Duke with an assist on Schaap’s marker.

Other contributors were Jared McNeil (two assists), Trudel, Tyler Tsoukalas, Cory Jewitt and Zander Latreille (one assist each)

Jacob Brown stopped 26 shots as Wellington outshot Lindsay 41-29.

The Dukes (outside of Jewitt, Schaap and Riley Noble, who will be playing Saturday in an OJHL-OUA exhibition showcase) will now have a layoff of eight days until Saturday, when they face the Stouffville Spirit on the road at 7:30 p.m.